


UNIT Reborn

by Lionheart39



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24203053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lionheart39/pseuds/Lionheart39
Summary: So who is left to defend the Earth? And what happened to the disbanded UNIT!
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Now complete!

The Doctor blinked and looked around the Spartan room. A cell, obviously, it was, cold, dark, with a metal framed bed! She rolled to her right and saw a bedside table. She clicked on the light. Her sonic screw driver, a glass of what smelled like excellent brandy and a bag of jelly babies were on the table. Not a cell then?

She got up and winced, the pain in her head was intense. Putting her hand to it she felt a dressing. She picked up the brandy and downed it, she winced again, that had been a mistake. The Doctor got to her feet grabbed the sonic screwdriver and headed for the door.

The corridor outside was brightly lit. She looked both left and right, then spotted the soldier sporting a UNIT beret who braced up, then pointed right.

The Doctor took the hint. UNIT? But UNIT had been disbanded.

After being directed by several soldiers she found herself at the doors of a lift. There was a hand recognition panel. She placed her hand on it and the lift doors opened. 

She put her head inside and looked all around. To be sure she scanned it with the sonic screwdriver then gingerly stepped inside. Instantly the lift doors closed, and the car descended at a rather fast speed. The doors behind her opened and the Doctor spun around. She saw a command centre, suddenly her heart lurched. A tall, dark haired, young officer, in UNIT uniform, was issuing commands in a deep silky voice.

The Doctor felt the world shift, her hearts stopped. He looked, almost, the same as that day in the underground. “Alistair!” she murmured and flew into the officers arms. 

The young man looked shocked.

“Doctor, please put my son down!” the voice broke through her shocked state.

“Kate?” 

The Doctor stepped back looked at the young officer then back to Kate Stewart. Apart from the lack of a moustache the young man was the image of his Grandfather.

“Sorry!” the Doctor murmured and nearly fainted at the half smile he quirked at her, along with a perfectly executed eyebrow raise.

Kate looked at the Doctor sympathetically. “Uncanny isn't it!”

The Doctor nodded, still feeling choked!

“Just as well for you, Doctor, that it wasn't, Alistair! I don't think I would have approved of you hugging my husband like that!”

Another voice she recognized. The Doctor spun around to see an elderly woman in a white lab coat.

“Liz? Dr Liz Shaw?”

The woman gave a sardonic smile. “Professor, Liz Shaw, or Lady Lethbridge-Stewart! But you can just call me Liz!”

The Doctor hugged the woman tightly failing to hold back her tears.

After Liz released her hold, the Doctor stepped back and looked at the two women then looked around the high tech control room.

“What is this place? I thought UNIT had been closed down?”

The two women shared a knowing look. 

“This way Doctor!” Kate said leading them towards a door to the left. “Gordon, you are in command, inform me if that ship goes into orbit!”

“Yes Ma'am!” the young officer said saluting.

“Gordon!”

“Yes, named for Dad!”

The Doctor nodded.

As they entered the office the Doctor’s hearts stopped again.

A life-size head and shoulders portrait of a man in military uniform took pride of place. 

“Alistair!” the Doctor murmured again. Walking forward to touch the face in the portrait. 

Liz did the same. 

“It get's me the same way every time I see it!” Liz said.

Kate pressed some buttons on her PDA and a screen slid down, and suddenly there was a moving image of the man who was haunting the Doctor for the last few minutes.

“Well Doctor, here we are again. I imagine you are in another body. Wonder if I would have recognized you this time around?”

Both Kate and Liz laughed. 

“Wonder what he would have made of this you,” Kate said quietly.

Something in the Doctor's mind seemed to say, “No matter what they think, I would have known you!” 

She felt buoyed up by that thought.

“The recording continued. “Ever since our days at Denham, I was battling budget cuts. Some days it felt like UNIT consisted of, Mike, Benton, a couple of office staff, half a dozen men, You, your assistant and myself!”

The Doctor laughed thinking back to her time with Alistair and Liz battling Autons, Salurians and idiots bent on global destruction.

“I always feared a time would come when stupidity and greed would finally overtake good sense, and funding for UNIT would stop. I wasn't prepared to see my lifetime's work thrown away!”

The Doctor saw the tired and worried look on the time-worn face. But the fire still burned bright in those hazel eyes. She was just so glad they hadn't flashed blue or the eyebrow hadn't raised, or she would have burst into tears.

“So I took measures to make sure that there would be a force available to protect the Earth, if ever that were to happen! This Doctor is truly ‘My UNIT!’ Funded by investments in new technologies, some of them alien in origin. But never weapons. One thing United National Investment Trust never did, was invest in weapons. We are a highly ethical business, albeit one that funds the worlds largest and best equipped private army! I doubt you will approve Doctor but it was this, or leave the world undefended, and we both know what that will lead to. I placed, Kate, Lizzy, Sarah and Gordon in charge of my legacy to the world.” 

All three women swallowed at the mention of Sarah, who had died so soon after Alistair. All three of them knew that like themselves, Alistair, would have been devastated by her loss. The recording carried on and the Doctor refocused.

“They were instructed to employ the best of the Old UNIT personnel to ensure continuity! It isn't ideal I know, Doctor. Hopefully once we have proved the need for UNIT the world will come to its senses and stop penny-pinching and in fighting. They will see we have enemies far worse than our selves to fight! I'm sorry that I cannot be here to greet you in person. But I feel sure that if you are here and UNIT has found you, then we are about to be put to the test. I ask just one thing, old friend, you keep the faith and believe in me, as I always believed in you!”

Her heart ached as the eyes on the screen twinkled with a blue flash and his eyebrow raised. 

“And above all, keep that promise you made to me all those years ago!”

Kate and Liz looked at each other puzzled.

The Doctor thought back, an injured Alistair, gripping his arm. “Keep them safe for me, Doctor, my little girl, my wife. Keep them safe!”

He had been talking about a three-year-old Kate and Fiona, his then wife. 

What had she promised? “I'll keep, all, your family safe, Alistair, don't worry old friend!”

She smiled as she looked at the image on the screen, “I’ll do my best old friend!”

The image on the screen saluted and faded out.

“So, Kate, tell me about...” she waved her hand to encompass the whole office.


	2. Explanation's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finds out about this version of UNIT

Kate pressed her PDA and the screen rolled up. She sat on the seat with the Brigadier’s portrait behind her.  


The Doctor heard the woman beside her snif and saw her quickly wipe her eyes before taking the seat next to Kate. The Doctor was obviously meant to sit across from them, but she couldn't take that seat. She couldn't sit looking at Alistair’s portrait, not if she was needed to think straight. So she took the seat at the end of the table.

Dad started the UNIT business in the early 1990s he built it's success on telecommunications systems. He stayed in the background, used trusted people. People who knew about UNIT.

His initial investment came from Doris, I doubt you would believe it, but she was a multibillionaire. Her father had owned a worldwide business. She inherited the business, sold most of it off and invested wisely. When Dad saw the way UNIT was going, he was nearly killing himself trying to fight the cuts. So Doris put forward the idea of a privately funded UNIT. At first Dad scoffed, saying it would take millions. Then Doris explained they had millions. She was a financial wizard, she set up the UNIT business. You helped to make it a success!” 

The Doctor looked puzzled.

“Dad and Doris, would subtly question you about technology to come!”

“The old rogue!” the Doctor spluttered! “All that talk of ‘all this computer stuff is beyond me! Goodness knows what’s coming, doubt if I'll cope! And Doris’s talk about kitchen gadgets?”

Kate grinned and nodded! The Doctor just shook her head, she couldn't believe how gullible she had been.

“Oh, they never did anything that would alter the time lines just quietly invested in the right type of technology. Sometimes it looked like they had made a mistake but a few years down the line and it was the next big thing.”

“Don't feel too bad Doctor, Alistair, did the same with me, always interested in my work and keen to meet promising students with ideas!” Liz said smiling at the memories.

“Dad was rather a wiz at computers and communication, he'd been in the Royal Signals during national service. But he never let on to you or UNIT. He always said ‘No need to show off, always make them think they know more than you! That way they take less care when trying to pull the wool over your eyes!’ Kate told her grinning.

Liz’s smiled widened, “I used to tell you Alistair wasn't a fool, Doctor, but you didn't believe me!”

“But how do you keep a private army secret Kate?” the Doctor asked.

“Arr, well that was Gordon and Luke's contribution. They were in to video gaming, war games to be precise, they got Dad involved. Well, Dad, of course, ended up holding the world records for several war strategy games. Especially the ones that killed Aliens. He realized this was the way forward, so he set up a gaming industry based around UNIT! Not only did they have online games, they also ran role-play simulation, to teach battlefield tactics, at training camps. The best online players were rewarded with all fees paid trips to our training facilities. Once there, they would be assessed to see if they were suitable to be UNIT soldiers.” 

The Doctor looked up at the portrait of her friend and just shook her head. “And I used to think he wasn't subtle!”

Kate ignored that and carried on. “The video games teach all the tactics known to defeat every alien UNIT ever encountered, and the battle schools gave the training in weapons and tactics. They used replicas of the weapons and equipment issued to UNIT troops. The best players were recruited to work at the battle schools, in other words to continue their training. The very best were encouraged to go for officer training in the regular army. They were then recruited, via Dad’s ‘old boys network’, into the special forces brigade, that Dad set up before UNIT existed!”

The Doctor looked puzzled.

Kate flicked the PDA and the screen reappeared.

Alistair was again there. “So it's time to tell you a secret, one that I never felt comfortable about keeping from you old friend. Please forgive me, but I had my orders, and as you know duty was always my first concern. Not something I was proud of as I got older.” 

He gave a pained smile.

“After the London incident, you told me we needed to be ready because more incursions would happen, I contacted my C.O. Major General Oliver Hamilton and together we set up the Fifth Operational Core, part of the Scots Guards. I was in command, made up to Brigadier and for three years we fought incursions on British territory. But I soon realized a more global approach was required. So with Hamilton’s encouragement, I went to the UN and helped set up UNIT. In fact, I was commander of both UNIT and the Fifth in case of a major incident. With the fifths commanding officer, my close friend, Brigadier Douglas, as my second in command. If we had a major incident in the UK then standing orders held by the Queen gave me overall command of UK forces.”

He grinned. “Thank God, it never happened, but it always amused me, knowing those stuffed shirts at the MOD would have had a fit if they had known. If anything happened to me you were to take my place Doctor! He laughed out loud at that!” 

Kate and the Doctor didn't smile, they just exchanged a knowing look. The Doctor now knew how she had become the President of Earth. She thought Alistair would have been much better at the job!

Alistair continued talking.

“You had convinced me, science was the key to defeating Alien threats. In the Fifth I recruited, Ann Travers, who had helped us defeat the Great Intelligence, she set up the Fifth’s scientific wing. When I set up UNIT I took on, Lizzy, to do the same job. But standing orders were to recruit you, if at all possible. Their initial idea was to arrest you, but I stopped that. As I pointed out I saw no way of detaining you against your will or expecting you to cooperate if we did! You being exiled made it easier to secure your cooperation!”

Today’s UNIT recruits are trained using online gaming and training camps. The Fifth is training our leaders. We have thousands of people across the world ready to take up the fight as a reserve force. Our main force, of about 400 troops in the UK, are based at our training schools and at strategic sites around the country. Around the world there are about 10,000 full time troops ready to lead the reserve force.”

“UNIT's research wing in the UK and USA were bought out right by Doris’s company, Brydon industries. Kate, Martha and Luke are in charge of those.” 

“Not ideal I know Doctor!”

“We have had to stay under the radar, only as the final option can we intervene. If Kate, Liz and Sarah have decided they need you, it must be time for UNIT to stand up and be counted.” 

The Doctor glanced from Kate to Liz, then back to the image on the screen.

“Doctor this is my UNIT! I hope you will approve, but even if you class us as ‘Military Buffoons’, please remember this ‘Military Buffoon’, was always your friend and would have gladly laid down his life for you! I know every man and woman who pulls on the UNIT beret is willing to die to save this planet! Look after them for me!”

All three felt tearful. After a minute Kate stood up.

“Right Doctor, this way!” Kate’s said. 

All three of them went back into the command centre.


	3. Taking Command!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UNIT makes itself know!

“Report Major!” Kate snapped.

Gordon approached and snapped to attention, “Confirmed Ma’am, the ship is Rutan, it isn't a scout ship, it’s much larger than the one's The Brigadier encountered it 1969!”

“Rutan, Fang Rock, 1902!” the Doctor said.

“Fang Rock, yes, that's where Dad met it in 1969!”

The Doctor looked surprised. “He never said!”

Kate smiled, “He was never happy about it, Doctor, but there were a lot of alien encounters, before you joined UNIT, that he was ordered not to tell you about!”

“Right well, if Dad's report is right we cannot let the regular forces take on the Rutans. Their weapons will be useless, and the Rutans will just take the form of the soldiers they kill. They will cause chaos!” Kate said looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded, “Conventional bullets will be of little use! High explosive and artillery would work but in force they will probably overwhelm any conventional force in minutes!” the Doctor confirmed. 

“Will the Rutans be open to negotiations?“

The Doctor shook her head.

Kate had made up her mind!

“Right Communications, connect me to the Palace!"

Kate picked up the phone on the nearest desk, as soon as the phone was answered she gave a code word and was instantly put through to the Queen.

After a brief conversation, Kate said “Thank you, Ma’am!”

Then she turned to the officer at the communications desk! “Connect me to MOD, chief of defence staff command room please!”

Suddenly the Screen showed an impressive room where the chiefs of defence staff and the head of MI6 were in heated debate. All theire eyes flickered up to the screen, with the image of Kate on, that had just turned on in the room.

“This is Kate Stewart, head of the United Intelligence Task Force!”

There was a long silence, then an argument broke out! “UNIT was disbanded!” Field Marshal Hooper exclaimed.

“No, Field Marshal, UNIT was abandoned by the people who should have been funding it. But we were not disbanded! We are here and ready to do the job we were set up to do. To protect the Earth from the type of threats, that we were set up to tackle. Exactly the type of threat that is being tracked heading towards the UK!”

Again there were arguments breaking out between, the chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Until C, the head of MI6 spoke. 

“I think, we need to listen to Ms Stewart and, that is you isn't it Doctor?”

The Doctor smiled “Yes, C, it is!” 

A smile spread across the tall thick set man's face.

“Right, so what are we facing, Doctor?”

“Rutans, it looks like a Rutan Mother ship, wanting to use the Earth as a staging post in their war!”

“Rutans?” one of the officers asked.

“Shape shifting Aliens, in their natural state they look like jelly fish. Rather large, and rather deadly, jelly fish. They are all part of a hive mind!” Kate told them. 

“So we need to…” the Chief of Staff started!

“I'm sorry Field Marshal, but we have enacted the Cosmic Hobo Protocol!” Kate told him sternly!

The man spluttered and started pressing keys on his PDA, then spluttered some more, as he read the file that had just appeared on the screen next to Kate’s image! 

“But General Lethbridge-Stewart is dead!” Air Vice Marshall Wright said explosively.

“I am very well aware of that!" Kate snapped! 

Liz placed a hand on Kate's arm to calm her.

"But his stand in, the Doctor is here! And the Queen has...” she was saying but was interrupted as the red phone on the Field Marshal's desk rang!

They saw the Field Marshall answer it. He stood up sharply to attention! 

“Yes, Ma’am! Understood Ma'am! Ms Stewart and the Doctor are in overall command? Yes, of course Ma'am. No Ma'am, I wasn't questioning your orders!”

The Doctor saw a smile lighting up C's face! “Right Doctor, Ms Stewart, we'll leave this to UNIT, Good Luck!


	4. Preparing for a Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and the Doctor get ready to meet an old foe.

As the screen went back to the tracking plot a voice called out!

“Landing area identified Ma'am! Just off the south coast of England! Looks like within the hour!”

The Doctor and Kate looked at each other “Fang Rock!” they both said.

“Good!” Kate said “Get me Major Bishop!” she instructed.

“OK Sam, the gamble paid off. They are heading your way, looks like you have about an hour to get dug in! Remember the briefing, wide angle laser weapons, thermo grenades and flame throwers. Basically any weapon that produces intense heat.”

“Affirmative Ma'am!”

Liz looked up from her console, “Kate there is one problem!” 

Kate and the Doctor both looked at the scientist.

“That ship is at least twice the size of Fang Rock! They can't land there!”

“Can Rutans Teleport, Doctor?” Kate asked.

“No, their natural electrical discharge makes teleporting uncertain! But they have perfected defence shields that prevent Sontarans from teleporting onto their ships.”

“So if they are going to get on to the island for some reason they will need to use a smaller craft?” 

The Doctor nodded.

“But why Fang Rock?” Liz asked.

“I've no idea but there must be something there they want!”

Kate shrugged, “Well we will figure out what they are up to when we get there!”

“Sam, the Doctor and I will be with you in approximately 40 minutes.” Kate informed the officer.

“Right Ma'am see you in about 40 minutes! Over and out!”

“I used a laser to destroy the last ship they sent.” The Doctor told her.

“We know, you once told Dad about it. He wrote it up for UNIT! Osgood has been modifying a laser weapon and Liz has built a sonic field generator for just such a crisis!”

“The Doctor nodded impressed. “Yes, oscillation of particles to produce heat! Nice idea Liz!”

Liz gave the Doctor one of those sardonic looks, that the Doctor remembered so well from when they worked together!

“We are going to be taking them with us, Doctor” Kate said.

“Helicopter ready Ma'am! Gordon informed her!”

Liz said, “Kate I really think I should…”

Kate spun around! “No way Liz, you and Gordon are in charge here, keep reinforcements on standby! The Doctor, Osgood and I can make any adjustments to your sonic generator!” Kate insisted!

The Doctor heard Liz mutter “You're as bad as Alistair!” but she gave the younger woman a loving smile and hugged her. Then hugged the Doctor as well. “You two take care!”

Gordon saluted them.

The Doctor nodded to the young man. She noticed the look he gave his mother. He wasn't as good as his Grandfather at masking his worries!

The Doctor and Kate entered the lab, Osgood had looked up and grasped her inhaler from her pocket!

The Doctor was instantly drawn to the TARDIS! She took out the key and quickly entered looking around intently. She was relieved that everything looked fine.

“We put out the call for you Doctor and the TARDIS just arrived, but no one came out. I used Dad's Key, and we found you inside. You seemed to have hit your head!” Kate told her. “There were no companions with you, I did look around as far as the TARDIS would let me!”

The Doctor patted the console.

“A slight disagreement with an old adversary of your Dad's and mine! I'd dropped my companions off just before that!”

“But we can go into that later! First I just need to check the TARDIS out!“ 

“Doctor, we need to be flying out in the next 5 minutes!”

Osgood had wondered inside the TARDIS, she was stood inside the Doors her mouth hanging open.

“We can go in the TARDIS!” the Doctor said moving around the console.

Osgood was grabbing her inhaler again, Kate spun around to look at the young woman in concern! 

She saw the look of absolute elation on Osgood’s face.

“Sorry Doctor, but NO! Dad, warned me about you and your piloting skills!”

Osgood’s sigh of disappointment cut Kate to the heart.

The Doctor stopped and looked up! “I've had a thousand years of practice, since then Kate! Your Dad, never did give me any slack! It's not like driving a car you know we are talking about four dimensional travel!”

Kate turned to Osgood seeing the pleading in her eyes!

“Oh alright, Doctor, you and Osgood go in the TARDIS, take Osgood’s Laser!”

“I'll fly out in the conventional manner and take Liz's sonic cannon!”

Osgood flew at Kate and hugged her tight, before dashing out to collect the laser equipment!

“You lose my Scientific Advisor, Doctor, and my Fathers rage will look like him at his most amiable, do you understand!”

The Doctor smiled, “Trust me Kate!” she said.

Osgood burst back in and Kate stepped out! She watched the TARDIS dematerialize. “I hope Osgood has got an extra inhaler with her!” she muttered.

Kate picked up Liz's sonic cannon as she left the lab!


	5. Fang Rock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate arrives at Fang Rock and has her first encounter with the Rutans.

Kate could see the space craft hovering in the far distance. Her helicopter had landed on the helipad a couple of hundred metres from the light house. The helipad on top of the light house wasn't designed for the large troop carrying helicopters that UNIT were using. So they were using the temporary helipad that had been built for transporting the heavy materials needed to build the new communications network centre that would replace the old light houses on this part of the coast. After nearly 150 years, Fang Rock Lighthouse would become obsolete.

Two UNIT soldiers met her and took Dr Shaw's sonic cannon and led Kate to the command area that Major Bishop had set up.

Kate pulled her trench coat around her the wind was certainly bracing. The rocks were slick with seaweed and deep rock pools abounded. Thank goodness she had worn sturdy boots!

She smiled remembering her father, even at 80 years old, polishing his boots and telling her, "Always wear a good pair of boots Kate. Dry feet, that's the secret to a happy life!"

She blinked back tears, if anyone noticed she could blame the wind!

"Well Major," Kate said as she saw Sam Bishop, who was hunched over his tablet, taking in views, sent via Battle Link, from his section leaders.

He straightened up and turned to face Kate and braced up. Then smiled grimly.

"We have two sections here, another section over on the North of the island and one near West Crag!" he reported. "So where do you think the ship will land?"

Kate looked at the Major, "It won't be landing, Liz calculates it is about twice as large as the island. The Doctor reckons that a smaller craft will be sent from the ship!"

The radio crackled, "Trap One to Greyhound Leader!"

Kate heard Gordon's voice say, "Smaller craft just detached from the ship! Liz says it's about 400 m in diameter. So you will be facing a sizable force. It seems to be heading for the West Crag sector!"

"Affirmative Trap One keep all Greyhound Sectors updated!"

Kate looked around, "Were is the Doctor and Osgood?"

Sam looked at Kate puzzled. "I thought they were coming with you!"

"Oh, hell, why didn't I listen to Dad!"

Sam looked at her worriedly.

"They were coming in the TARDIS!"

Sam's eyebrows raised!

"Right we better get going!" Kate said. "Update me, as we go!"

"All the men are equipped with laser rifles and thermo grenades. Each section has flame throwers." Sam told her as they jogged towards West Crag!

As they got to the beach, near West Crag, Kate scanned the area.

"I can't see the TARDIS," she told Sam.

"Is Osgood, here?" she asked Captain Cheng?

"No, Ma'am, just my men and myself!"

Kate and Sam exchanged worried glances.

"You haven't seen a blue police box?" she asked the Captain.

He shook his head but his eyes were wide in surprise and was that hope she saw in them!

"Kate tapped her earpiece," Greyhound leader to Greyhound 7! Greyhound leader to Greyhound 7!" She repeated, "Greyhound 7, Osgood, that's you!" Kate clarified!

No answer.

Blast it why did Dad always have to be right! She thought.

Sam touched her arm and pointed towards the Rutan craft that was heading their way.

Suddenly, much to Kate's relief, Osgood answered!

"Greyhound Leader this is Greyhound... 7, err I think we may not be quite where we expected to be. We seem to be in a cave!"

Kate's eyes darted along the bottom of the cliffs, there was only one cave. To Kate's horror she saw that the Rutan craft was coming into land between the cave and them!

"Greyhound 7, tell the Doctor you need to get out of there. The Rutan ship is between us and the cave. You are behind enemy lines."

Osgood looked at the Doctor who was frantically adjusting switches.

She threw the dematerialization switch but the TARDIS just gave a tired groan!

"What's the problem?" Osgood asked, peering over the Doctor's shoulder. She took out her own sonic screwdriver, anything I can help with?"

The Doctor noted that the young woman's face was alight with hope at helping to work on the TARDIS.

"Kate," the Doctor shouted, "how close are the Rutans to the cave?"

"A couple of hundred metres!" Kate answered.

"Then, we are stuck here, the teleport shield is obviously stopping the TARDIS from jumping into the vortex!"

Kate looked at Sam worried.

"Ma'am, the Rutan's are starting to exit their ship! It looks like they are heading for the cave!" Captain Cheng informed them.

"Open fire!" Kate shouted. "We need to distract them! We have to keep them away from that cave!"


	6. Reason for Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate finds out why the Rutans are so interested in Fang Rock!

Sam squeezed her shoulder then set off leading a squad of men in an attempt to get around the Rutan ship to get between them and the cave.

Kate stared at the Rutans, large green jelly fish that move, walked she supposed on thick outer tentacles. The smaller inner tentacles were used to generate a kind of electrical charge! She saw energy blasts shoot out from these tentacles, two of the troops had already been hit. It was obvious the energy bolts were lethal. The Rutans were definitely hostile.

“Greyhound leader to Trap One!”

“Trap One!” came the reply.

“Have we made contact with the Rutan ship?” Kate asked.

Liz's voice came over the radio, “They are totally ignoring us! We are broadcasting over every channel available, VHF, UHF and Microwave! There is no way they can not be picking anything up! Anne Travers’s report said the Rutan she met, told her it had monitored basic Earth radio signals back in 1969!”

“Thank you, Trap One, keep trying! Over and Out!”

Kate was watching the battle, three men were down, but they were succeeding at keeping the Rutans near to their ship!

“ Greyhound Leader to Greyhound 3, tell your men, to try to corral them! But you have my authority to use deadly force if you deem it necessary!” Kate ordered.

She didn't like using deadly force, but if they were killing her troops and not willing to talk then she hadn't much choice.

“Doctor, any chance that you can get out of there!” Kate asked urgently.

“No, not with the Rutan’s ship so close!”

“Well we are managing to keep them away from the cave for now, the laser weapons are having the desired effect, we are managing to keep them near their ship! But it does seem to be the cave they are interested in.”

“We could use the large laser to create a multi frequency heat barrier to block the cave entrance!” Osgood suggested. 

“Yes, yes we could set up a varying frequency pulse to....” the Doctor started to say.

“JUST DO IT!” Kate snapped, “We are losing troops out here!”

“Right, yes, sorry, just give us five minutes!” the Doctor said.

“Ten!” Osgood interjected!

“Did you get that Sam?”

“Yes Ma'am!”

Kate saw a Thermo grenade take out one of the Rutan who had managed to knock out three of the troops who had been stood in the water. It had been sending blasts of electrical charge into the surrounding water. Kate hoped the troops had just been stunned!

“Greyhound Leader to all Greyhounds, stay out of any water, the enemy can use water to deliver electric shocks! Repeat stay out of water!” Kate instructed.

There was a flash from the cave entrance.

“Kate we have got the barrier working!” the Doctor informed her.

“OK, Sam get your men back to a safe position! Osgood and the Doctor are safe for now!”

As the troops pulled back they saw the Rutans approaching the heat barrier in front of the cave. One of the Rutans tried to enter it but on touching the barrier it withered screaming on the ground. 

The other Rutans pull back towards their ship as their colleague died. 

“Greyhound Leader to Doctor! Your barrier seems to be working Doctor!” Kate said “How long can you maintain it for?”

“A couple of hours at best came Osgood’s reply!”

“We need to find out why they want to be in that cave! Then persuade them to leave!” Kate said over the radio.

As Sam joined her she turned to him and muttered “Or find a way to destroy them if all else fails!”

As they had turned the heat barrier on Osgood and the Doctor shared a smile, “Well done, Osgood, that was a brilliant idea of yours!” 

Osgood realised she had been working with the Doctor, and what’s more praised for her work! That thought almost made her go weak at the knees, she grabbed her inhaler and took an extra deep breath.

The Doctor looked at her worried, she wondered if you could overdose on that stuff!

“Right let’s have a look around this cave and see what we can find!” the Doctor said looking at the young woman in concern.

Kate glanced across at the mother ship. “I was just wondering why they haven't done anything to help their forces!” she said then tapped her earpiece and called the Doctor.

“Doctor, I assume Rutan ships are armed!”

The Doctor stopped and thought. Osgood carried on walking toward a faint glow she saw off to her left.

“Yes, Rutan ships use charged energy beams. Their technology is about using energy bolts rather then lasers.”

“Would they be able to use their weapons to target Fang Rock if they are about three miles away?”

“Yes, easily especially in the Earths atmosphere, it would be like a bolt of lightning hitting the island!”

“So why haven't they done anything to help their forces on Fang Rock?” Kate asked. “Surely they know their force has met resistance, so why aren't they helping!” 

“Of course they know Kate, the Rutans are a Hive mind! “They are an advance society,” the Doctor went on. “Their ships use crystals to power their drive system. They convert energy from this system to generate large amounts of electrical charge with enough power to jump large distances, especially in the vacuum of space! It's quite ingenious really!”

Kate wondered if every version of the Doctor like giving lectures even at the most inappropriate times.

Liz Shaw had been monitoring the conversation. “Energy! Could it be their ship is low on energy? “ Liz asked!

The Doctor stood thinking! “Yes, yes, that could be a possibility, their drive system, uses purple, sodium, ionic crystals as the source of energy. These crystals do degenerate over time, so the ship could be low on power.”

Osgood’s voice came from the far side of the cave. “Doctor, these crystals are they, purple, in the double terminated form and about the size of the central column in the TARDIS?”

“Yes, that's right!“ the Doctor said looking towards Osgood frowning. She then saw the pulsing, purple, glow near to where Osgood stood.

She dashed over and stood looking into the side cave in amazement! 

Floor to ceiling there were tanks interconnected with a web of what looked like tentacles, inside each tank there was a large purple crystal growing.

“Kate, I think we know why the Rutans are interested in Fang Rock! At some time in the past they set up a facility to grow their energy crystals!”

"Wonderful, Fang Rock is an intergalactic filling station!" Sam muttered.


	7. Avoiding War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and UNIT work together to stop the Earth being drawn in to a Millennia old war!

A strange guttural voice suddenly came over the radio!

“The Rutan do not wish you harm! All we require is what is ours, the crystals. Once we have those we will depart your solar system!”

Kate looked at Sam. 

That would be an easy solution to their problems but Kate could see one major pit fall.

“Aren't you at war with the Sontaran’s?” Kate asked.

There was a pause. “Yes, we have been fighting the Sontaran’s for millennia.”

“If we allow you to take those crystals from our planet, the Sontarans could, and knowing them, would, consider that we are aiding you! They would think we are siding with you in your war!”

“They would not know!” the Rutan’s strange voice rasped! “We are only taking what we require. We take only things that will not harm your planets development!” 

The Doctor angrily retorted, “That’s nonsense, of course it would harm this planet. Your actions would drag the planet into a war that has nothing to do with its inhabitants. I could never figure out before why, the Sontarans, were so interested in conquering the Earth. I know It is located at a strategic point for both your forces, but not more so than a hundred other planets. Other planets that are uninhabited and easier to access. But the Sontarans knew you were using this planets resources to aid your fight!”

“The Sontarans have tried to invade this planet several times already!” Kate said angrily. “Was that because of your actions? Did we lose all those people because you were using our planet as some sort of intergalactic recharging point!”

“We placed our energy supply point here because of this planets unique resources!” The Rutan rasped. “We only take resources that the inhabitants will not miss. The loss of the minerals that we have used to make our crystals will not harm the planet’s inhabitants development?” 

The Rutans didn't seem to grasp the problem.

“Your actions will land us in the middle of a millennia old war. A war we are not equipped to defend ourselves against!” Kate snapped.

“This is a Level 5 planet!” the Doctor stated indignantly. “You know that intergalactic treaties say they should be left in peace to develop sufficiently before alien contact is made!”

“We also see you have not kept to that treaty Doctor, you have constantly interfered with this planet’s development!”

“I have prevented alien disruption to this planet!” the Doctor snapped indignantly. I stopped, illegal invasions and prevented technology from other worlds corrupting it! And even those actions were frowned upon by the Time Lords and the Shadow Proclamation.”

“We do not require your permission to take the crystals, they are ours! We could just take what we want!” the Rutan said.

“I don't think so, I don't think you have enough energy to power your weapons system. If you do and don't manage to defeat us I imagine you will not have enough power to leave the Earths atmosphere! Your best course is to leave the Earth now!” the Doctor told them.

The Rutans went quiet, then said. “We only need to wait two twenty fourths of your Earth’s cycle then our forces can retrieve what we need!”

“ Trap One to Greyhound Leader, it looks like they are preparing to send reinforcements!” 

“Any bright ideas Doctor?” Kate asked.

Osgood and the Doctor were staring at the tanks.

“Could we destroy the Crystal’s?” Osgood asked.

The Doctor nodded and took out her sonic screw driver. Pointing it towards the tanks she gradually increased the frequency. The front of the tanks shattered! They ran over and checked the crystals.  
“Not even a crack or flaw!” the Doctor said disappointedly. “It just isn't powerful enough, those crystals are just so large their mass isn't allowing enough vibration.”

The Doctor just pushed one of the Crystal’s to the cave floor, but to Osgood’s disappointment it remained intact.

“How about we try using both our sonic screw drivers?” Osgood asked as she pulled her own sonic screwdriver from her pocket!

“Worth a try!” the Doctor said, nodding with approval. “But we have to synced their frequencies otherwise they will cancel each other out!”

Osgood watched the Doctor work as she linked the two devices. They stood arms raise like two modern day wizards with magic wands, they started to scroll up the frequency range. Even at the maximum range the Crystal’s remained intact but the cave walls and ceiling began to crumble. 

They powered down. On inspecting the Crystal’s they couldn't detect even the slightest damage.

“We can't generate a large enough sound wave!” the Doctor muttered dejectedly.

“Can’t we use the TARDIS to enhance the power?” Osgood asked.

The Doctor shook her head.

“The sonic Cannon, Liz's sonic cannon“ Osgood said!

The Doctor nodded and smiled sadly! “Yes, that would probably work! But it is outside and we are in here!”

“We could radio Kate and ask her to get it to us we could drop the barrier long enough ... Except!” Osgood stopped what she was saying realizing the flaw in her idea.

“Yes, except the Rutans are monitoring our radio Signals.”

“Trap One to Greyhound Leader! Greyhound Leader our defence satellite, Alistair-1 has signalled a Code 1 Rule 3 priority” Liz's voice said.

“An Alistair, Code 1, Rule 3?” Kate said unsure.

“Yes, Greyhound Leader, surely you remember Alistair’s Rule 3!” 

“Yes... Yes, of course! ” Kate said, suddenly realizing what the message meant.

“We have an in coming ship, confirmed to be a Sontaran battle cruiser! E.T.A. one hour. They are using their new cloaking device. Luckily our advanced satellites are able to detect it's heat traces!” Liz said.

“Thank you Trap One, keep monitoring!”

“Greyhound leader, should we, make the Sontarans aware of our situation re the Rutans?” Gordon’s voice asked.

Osgood was listening to the radio message worriedly. 

The Doctor was grinning to herself!

“That's affirmative Trap One, please make the Sontarans aware of what is happening here, as surreptitiously as possible. We don't want them to know we can get around their cloaking device! But we do want them to know we are trying to stop a hostile Rutan force from gaining a foothold on our planet! Perhaps you should broadcast the images from Fang Rock so the Sontaran ship can intercept them!”

Kate watched the Rutans on Fang Rock quickly making their way back to their craft. Within a few minutes they were taking off and heading back to the mother ship!

Doctor I think you will find your TARDIS is working again.

Even before she had finished speaking the TARDIS materialized behind them!

The Doctor stepped out grinning at Kate! 

Both women turned to watch the mother ship disappearing from the sky!

“Trap One to Greyhound Leader, the Rutans have left Earth orbit!”

“Thank you Trap One, excellent work!”

Osgood and Sam were both looking puzzled. 

“Dad’s Battlefield Rule 3, always let the enemy think the cavalry is coming around the corner! “ Kate said grinning. “The more plausible the story the more likely the rues is to work.”

Sam grinned, but Osgood still looked confused.

Right, Kate, let’s get back to that cave and destroy those crystals. Then hopefully we have seen the last of the Rutans. 

As Kate and the Doctor presented their report to the Prime minister and C, it was obvious that there had been a change of heart in regards to UNIT’s status. It did help that UNIT was self funding. It became clear they were being given back the tasks and status of the old UNIT. A new protocol was in place to allow Kate to take overall control in the event of an invasion situation.

Worldwide talks were in progress to reform UNIT along the old lines. There would be a lot of work required, but it seemed that Kate and Alistair had devised a plan for this to happen before he died. 

When they got back to the office the Doctor went to look at the portrait of Alistair, Kate went to stand next to her. 

“He would be so terribly proud of you Kate!” the Doctor said quietly.

“He, was always terribly proud of her Doctor!” Liz said as she joined them. 

“Your lifetime’s work is safe Dad! UNIT, is back defending the Earth, just as you intended it to!” 

Kate and Liz walked over to look out into UNIT's command centre. The Doctor remained looking at Alistair's portrait a little longer.

“They are still safe, old friend,” she murmured, “your little girl and your wife! They didn't really need my help, because they are such remarkable women. But I will continue to watch over them for you, just as I promised you I would!” 

She walked over to the two women and placed an arm around each of them! She saw Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart filling in paperwork at a desk in the corner. She saw a half smile appear on his face and an eyebrow raise. She grinned knowing UNIT was in safe hands for the foreseeable future!


End file.
